SELF RELEASED Out now
I’m a sucker for sweet soul and this has a smooth charm to it, stiffened up by strong but unobstructive guitar work. Songs are heartfelt and the emotions are pinned to the chest – he wants dead flowers bringing to his grave. This has been out since November and I didn’t initially write anything about it but found I kept coming back to it and certain hooks wormed their way into my heart. You, dear reader, deserve that experience, too.
It’s a lousy title and won’t be easy to remember for a search but a trip to Bandcamp should see you right. Clint does his own publicity and for a launch, he’s trumpeting that he recorded the whole set live in one take in a theatre. A huge band, choir and sax make this into a soul experience.
I found this one to melt into and soak up in a single draught. It’s not all smooth and I found it quite jazzy in feel, even though there’s nothing here that would scare a Coldplay fan. Big ballads and soul blasters are upfront here, particularly those ballads led by piano as the singer pours his broken heart out. There is something old fashioned in the pure songwriting and performance values here and I welcome it; this album feels very real. Clint’s voice has the tones of someone recounting their life while the arrangements alternately impel the feet or sooth the ears.
You may want to sample the single, Long Way From Home, which rolls and rocks in an extremely catchy way to the big hook and backing chorus.